Friday, March 14, 2008

Hi everyone. Caron (who was sick last night) sent this information about Leslie's encaustic class. I pass it on to you for your information and to pass on to friends.

INTRODUCTION TO ENCAUSTIC PAINTING

Leslie Sobel

Saturday, June 28/ Sunday, June 29, 10am-4pmCoffee and bagels at 9:30 - Potluck lunch at 12.

Those of us who enjoy working with clay can appreciate texture andrelief in other mediums. As clay is an ancient medium, so is Encaustic.Until recently Encaustic has been all but forgotten and is nowundergoing a resurgence of popularity. This is not a ceramic technique but one using the medium of pigmentand bees wax combined to create relief paintings on wood. This two-day workshop will introduce students to working withencaustic paint. Encaustic is paint mixed in a Bees wax-base rather than acrylic or oil. It is worked hot with aheated palette and a propane torch along with more traditional paintingtools. On day one Students will get an introduction to using a torchfor fusing the paint. We will utilize encaustic as a collage medium andexplore some of the many additive and subtractive techniques used withthis ancient medium. The second day will build on the first, looking at a variety ofsubstrates, learning to build up more sculptural/textured surfaces andworking into the surface.Students will come away from the workshop with an understanding of howto prepare a surface for encaustic, how to make encaustic medium, agrounding in using encaustic to paint and collage, studio safety, andsources for materials.

The first day of this workshop is intended for people who have noexperience with encaustic. The second day is open to those who have worked with encaustic before as well as acontinuation building on the first day.

Leslie Sobel has moved back and forth between the worlds of art andtechnology for over 20 years. She is an artist well known for herunusual use of encaustic combined with digital media.

Tuition: $95 two days/ $70 one dayLab Fee: *$55 two days/ *$50 one day*Your Lab Fee includes the cost of a propane torch for your keeping.FOR MORE INFORMATIONWWW.YOURISTPOTTERY.COMkay@youristpottery.com734.662.4914

The encaustic painting pen that Michelle used can be found at Sinopia/Kremer.

I'll post the photos from last night and information about next week soon.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

About the next class - we are on the correct schedule. The schedule we looked at in class last week was the first one, not the corrected one :-)

So, for March 6th -- bring pieces of plexiglas to paint on. It doesn't matter if they're scratched.I'll bring mylar to do monoprints or paint on.- bring an unwaxed panel. We're going to glue canvas to this. It may be cradled or not- bring 12 or 16 oz. canvas (heavy) big enough to cover the panel. You may want the canvas to go around the sides of the panel and onto the back or you may just want to cut the canvas and glue it to the front only - your choice.

We'll glue (PVA or the gel medium from Chris's list) the canvas on the panel so it will be ready to paint the following week. You may do more than one if you wish.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Here are some questions to go along with the photo from this beautiful place - Do the places you visit influence your art? Are you able to take inspiration from the beauty or the irony or the unfairness you come across? When you're back at home if you think about the significant times in your life, just before you put pencil to paper or brush to readied panel does it make a difference in what you draw/paint? I think these spectacular mountains are causing me to think of a bigger picture than I usually do so I find I'm asking myself these questions. I thought I'd pass them along to you.

About what to bring next Thursday - TO BUILD CRADLED PANELS:- if you get there right on time or a bit early and you have your own belt clamp you can do, at most, 6 cradle/panels. So you could bring enough cradle pieces for six panels - that is 24 pieces. Most of you don't have that many so bring what you have.- bring the panels to go with the cradles. We'll put each panel with its cradle together in one go.- if you have Titebond glue bring it. If you don't have it you can use mine.- belt clamp if you have it. Those who want to use mine will have to take turns. You have to leave the clamp on the cradle for half an hour before someone else can use it.- tape measure if you have it

I'll bring the saw in case it's necessary to trim any pieces but I'll leave it in the car until it is needed.

THE REST:Bring new or old panels to work on while glue is setting, plus regular encaustic bits.Kristine, I'll bring PVA so you can glue your watercolor to a panel.

I'll do another demo of stencils. Everyone seemed to have some trouble with that. The demo may make more sense since you've tried applying stencils. I'll use some materials besides mylar.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Friday, February 8, 2008

Hello Alix, Jane, Caron, Bill and Kristine. Here is some recent work of yours. I missed these when I left early. Bill took the photos and passed them on to me. Some of them are attributed to "from Bill" then a number. Email or comment to let me know whose are whose (using the number) and I'll attach the correct name to the photo. Nice work :-)

I'll try to get Bill's pictures of work going on in class up tonight. I'm going to put it on my website and link it from here. I'm not going to edit much because I don't know which will be helpful.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Hello everyone. Thank you for Thursday night. I arrived just as the images were beginning. There were some really good ones and some not really good ones. Here is the bit that I showed. It lasts about 2 1/2 minutes. They are "painted" on the computer, mostly in photoshop.

About next week - if I were you, I would plan on making four cradled panels. That is a nice number of panels to have ready to use. If you're uncertain of size or what you want to do then maybe you just want to make one for now. All you need for this week is the cradle wood but you need to bring the panels so you cut the cradles to the proper size. I would suggest pine or poplar for the cradle wood - the size called 1"x2" (which isn't really 1"x2"). Call or email me if you are having trouble thinking about this.

Also, bring a panel or two (used or not) to work on. Alix brought up stencils so I'll do a demo of the use of stencils, metal leaf and ironing. Bring your irons if you have one. You can use mine if you don't have one. We'll have to take turns using the irons anyway so we don't blow a fuse.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Hello all. I am back safe and sound with boxes for Caron and Bill. I'll bring them Thursday. Hope your trip was good also Alix.

MOUNTED PRINTA reminder of what to bring besides the usual bits and pieces:- your prints or whatever, trimmed to 1/4" (or so) larger than the panel on all sides- your panels (2 painted with white acrylic - or not if you prefer))- PVA or the gel medium on the materials list, if you have it

Also, if you have, please bring:- newspapers. This is so you can create a bit of a cushion on which to place your print once it has been adhered to the panel. A couple of sections per panel should be enough.- wax paper or freezer paper to place between the print and the newspaper- a brayer or squeegee. I'll bring several. We can share this item.

We'll lay the mounted print face down on the pile of newspapers and set a weight on top of it. We'll do this at the beginning of the class. It should be quite well adhered by the time you leave. I wouldn't call it dry until the next day.

COLLAGEYou will need a third panel for the collage. This can be one you have already begun or a new one. If it's a new one you will have to build up some wax layers. You can collage almost anything in wax. If the inclusions are delicate and flammable we'll mount them with cold wax (Dorland's) then coat with encaustic and torch. Inclusions can be 3D or 2D. The thicker they are, the more wax you will have to build up to include them.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Two things - one is, if you can easily bring an additional piece of panel to paint with white acrylic, please do so. I'll bring some extra pieces (they will be regular half inch plywood, not the pretty birch plywood) if you want to use them. Please make sure they are 12"x12" or smaller. We're going to prepare two pieces of panel for adhering paper. There are two processes I want to show you.

The second thing is, if anyone has photos they think would benefit this class, please email them to me and I'll post them on this blog. Just send them to my email address in jpg format, 72dpi. At this point, I think that's to you Bill :-)

Friday, January 11, 2008

This is a photographic, informational and communication blog for Encaustic Painting at the Birmingham/Bloomfield Art Center in Birmingham, Michigan, January 2008.

So, hello Alix, Kristine, Bill, Jane and Caron. I'm thinking of this as a way we can communicate. You can also email or call me. I'll check it once or twice a day and respond to any questions. Anyone of you (or anyone at all) can respond also.

Some notes about making medium - - it will take about 4 hours -set the electric skillet to warm or lowest setting - put in the Damar crystals in a 1:8 ratio - Damar:beeswax - the 4 ounces of Damar to the 2 bricks of beeswax - put the beeswax in on top of the Damar - put the lid on, slightly ajar, and let it melt.Check it now and then to see how it's coming. Pay attention to the odor. It should smell like beeswax. If it smells obnoxious, turn it off. After awhile - maybe 3 hours - the wax will be melted but the Damar may still be tarry. You can stir it around to spread out the Damar or just put the lid back on and wait longer.If you have to interrupt this process, no problem. Turn it off then back on later.

What to bring next Thursday, the 17th besides your normal encaustic bits:- your panel to paint white. It will have your print or painting or blank paper applied to it the following week. - your panel you painted yesterday. You may scrape the wax off and experiment again or continue with what you have begun.- either your encaustic medium already melted and formed or your beeswax and Damar crystals and a container to melt the wax in- torch- pigments in oil paint, dry pigments or encaustic stick or the other forms we mentioned- paper for monoprints. I would suggest about 25 sheets of some inexpensive paper. I'll bring some mylar and examples of my monoprints on mylar. There are examples of a few of these on my regular blog, Bonzo Chronicles about half way down the page.

Check this blog closer to next Thursday. I may add more to your "bring" list.

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About Me

I like wax and digits and paper and black and white and reduced color palettes and simplicity and mood and visual geometry and luminescence and translucency and visual space. I spend time in my studio in the woods near Ann Arbor, Michigan using these qualities to make things that I like to call art.
www.lcole.com